Of the Dark Night of the Soul


_De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine: Domine exaudi vocem meam._

Out of the depths I have cried to Thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my
voice.--_Ps. cxxix. 1, 2._


XI


The third temptation was so fierce and subtle, that I doubt whether I
wholly understood it when Master Richard tried to tell it to me. He did
not tell me all, and he could answer but few questions, and I fear that
I am not able to tell even all that I heard from him. It was built up
like a house, he said, stone by stone, till it fenced him in, but he did
not know what was all its nature till he saw my lord cardinal.

A soul such as was Master Richard's must have temptations that seem as
nothing to coarser beings such as myself: as a bird that lives in the
air has dangers that a crawling beast cannot have. There are perils in
the height that are not perils on the earth. A bird may strike a tree or
a tower; his wings may fail him; he may fly too near the sun till he
faint in its heat; he cannot rest; if he is overtaken by darkness he
cannot lie still. [Sir John enumerates at some length other such dangers
to bird life.]....